Cloudkeepers: Two Handed Swords

This is another "By Request" post. A while back someone asked about cloaks to transmog with the Cloudkeeper set. More recently I had someone, Jedge, comment on the Cloudkeeper's Set asking for suggestions for two handed swords. I selected only six. There are quite a few that match and will work but I selected ones that I felt worked best with the set. Unique, intimidating, cool, whatever. I also tossed in a couple hammers and axes as well.

My mistake while doing all this? I didn't check availability and usability. Some of the swords are class and faction specific. Some are no longer available. So only a few are usable by a Blood Elf warrior. My bad. However there are still quite a few different options to choose from.

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Grand Marshall's Claymore	PvP - purchasable with honor points	Alliance only - Won't work for a Blood Elf.
Starshatter	Elegon in Mogu'shan Vaults	Both the LFR and the reg graphic work
Greatsword of the Ebon Blade	Purchased from Quatermaster Ozorg	DK only - Won't work for a warrior

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Unfortunately, of these three only Starshatter is "easy" to get and available to all who can use two handed sword. Quel'Delar would be another option, it's pretty and it's unique but it's annoyingly hard to get however. Batter Hilt questline anyone? I do have a friend who plans on using Lionheart once he finishes up his blacksmithing. While the Lionheart looks cool and mostly matches this set, it just didn't do much for me.

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X'caliboar	Ragglesnout in Razorfen Downs	He is a "rare" spawn. Used to have a silver nameplate, now it's gold but he's still not up every time you run.
Stormrune Edge	Assembly of Iron in Ulduar	This sword only drops in normal 25m but has a chance to drop off any of the three bosses.
Warblade of Caer Darrow	No longer available	Option: Deanship Claymore

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Here are some simple two handed swords. Well ok, so Stormrune is only simple in shape. But if you want a "classic" looking two handed sword to match this set, there are lots to choose from. Most match with a smooth blue/silver blade with the occasional gold hilt. One of the reasons I selected X'calidoar was because of the stylized hilt that sets it apart a bit from most basic two handed swords. I did an "Ooops" and didn't check availability before screenshotting and uploading. I should have learned to do that by now....You can no longer get the Warblade of Caer Darrow so I selected the Deanship Claymore as an option. The other "same model as" that matched nicely is also no longer available, Seraph's Strike.

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Bloodmoon	Blacksmithing: BC Mastercraft recipe, readded in 5.2.	It just looks so dang cool.
Captain Roger's Polite Knocking Stick	Quest: Unleash Hell	Alliance only. Again. Why does Alliance always get blue and gold?
Experimental Specimen Slicer	Yor'sahj in Dragon Soul	This color only drops in normal, 10 or 25.
Spiked Battle Axe	Random green drop	It's a green. Awesome, good luck finding it on your AH. Try grinding BC 5 mans.

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A few more options here if you get tired of a sword. I was thinking of Catastrophe when hammers came to mind. Darn my Alliance roots. It's a Trial of the Grand Crusader drop. Once the attempts counter was removed from the game, the items associated with it were also removed. Bummer. However, the Spiked Battle Axe is one of my picks for this group. I love that particular axe graphic and was actually wishing you could get in something other and than red and gold. Surprise! Here it is! This is an awesome axe that could go with a plethora of transmog sets.

My absolute favorite with this set is Stormrune Edge. I love it. I am partial to a lot of Uludar graphics. I also like the raid itself. If you do go farm for this sword and want a few quick achieves here are some tips.

Kill the council in a different order each time for the "I Choose You...." achievements.

Make sure to purchase an Iron Boot Flask with your Relic of Ulduar for the But I'm on Your Side! achieve.

Enjoy playing around with this set. It's fairly open to change, you can accent with more blue pieces or focus on the gold. Changing cloaks and weapons and a helm or a belt will personalize it more. Good luck.

Quick Guide: Blacksmithing in 5.2

Well folks I had planned to do a quick Blacksmithing guide once 5.2 went live and it's taken a bit more time than I expected. You see, in order to kill the guy who drops the item that starts the quest chain you have to open the fourth phase on Isle of Thunder. Basically your server better be grinding those dailies. It's like the Firelands Invasion sort of thing, only progress is server based like the opening of AQ.

So I finally get to the fourth phase, kill Itoka and no drop. I checked some of the comments on Wowhead and apparently he isn't always dropping it like he's supposed to. I'm not sure if that is because someone else pulled him first (he's a daily quest mob btw) or what. Perhaps he only drops one and another BS grabbed it. Anyways....quick run down here of how things go.

• Open fourth phase on Isle of Thunder and make sure you've done all the solo scenarios to that point.
• Kill Itoka.
• Loot Strange Metal Ingot and begin the quest, Lightning Steel.
• Go through the door just northish of you.
• Read the book and complete the quest.
• Win!

Special thanks to dlbert2000 for the screenies! They were better than mine.

Couple things about killing Itoka. That link takes you right to his abilities page. He's a nasty little mini boss so bring friends. He has an AE lightning attack called ring of Thunder with a pretty large radius, run out when you see the cast bar. Column of Thunder you can just step out of when he drops it on the ground. Pretty much you're going to be moving this whole fight, between avoid his sparks and running out of the other abilities. He'll pop a shield around himself himself during the fight, this a great time to heal up and get mana or whatever you need. Then you'll kill the little guys channeling the shield to break it. While I've never tried to solo him, people say it's possible but it's a super pain. So yeah....stick with the bring friends strategy for the easiest kill.

Once you complete the quest you'll get the Notes on Lightning Steel. The notes contain the plans for lightning steel bars as well as plans for a number of sexy weapons. These weapons are 463 and are "reborn" versions of Burning Crusade Mastersmith weapons. Once you make the ilvl 463 weapon you then learn the next level up. It will be ilvl 476, learn a new pattern and then the final weapon is 502. The down side? It will take a TON of mats and time to get all three weapons. Basically you'll get higher level weapons from Throne of Thunder raid long before finishing the final weapon. Lightning steel is a main ingredient and it's one bar every 24 hours and they're BoP, unlike living steel. So....It's only useful for transmog. And of course selling to people who transmog at extortionate prices.

Personally the work involved in crafting these means I'll be making them for myself only and maybe a few very close friends. If I'm still around once next xpac hits that might change but for now I'm hording my lightning steel. I certainly hope that Blizz might allow us to proc extra bars during. Aaahhh I can dream!